US Military Request - CSM Richard B Watchman

[Cancerian]

Hi
I believe I am a victum once again.
Started a friendship from a dating site, I had asked for proff of ID and extras, which he provided. I thought I had researched all but apparently not, as they are very cleaver, I have alot to learn.
His name is CSM Richard B Watchman, currently serving in Africa. Been serving for 25 yrs and is a widow with no immediate family.
I was asked to request for leave, he gave me the email to send it to.
I had recieved forms from the DOD for leave.
Then told to pay a fee of 850 US, to a Diplomate in my country.
I will apload the photos of the letters.
Another thing that has me very puzzled is that he gave me his username and pass word to access his military funds account.
He had some good stories when i confronted him.
I wont be sending anything, its about his account that has me more confused.
Im not sure how to post pics. His email is [email protected] the Diplomates name is Maria Boyce 34 Wallace RD Papatoetoe Auckland 2025, Western Union Account Number 114 503 513. Please help me

[HillBilly]

Hi
I believe I am a victum once again.

hi and welcome to scamwarners, Cancerian.

it sounds like you are doubting the requested "leave" is honest. and you are right, it is a scam. Military do not pay for leave, they earn it as a part of their pay package. Toting them across the miles is also done by MAT ( Military Air transport) planes that are cost free to the folks in the services. ( though far from first class rides).

There is one simple step that can almost ensure you are talking to a real military person. Ask him for his .mil email address. If he refuses to give it to you for any reason, he is a scammer. If he gives it out, then be sure to send him email, ask him to answer it with a certain "security" phrase, and verify the complete headers did indeed originate from the source they are supposed to. almost any email account can be hacked so you must always think along the lines of "trust, but verify", or "trust is earned, not given". At least until after you have met in person and found out that the person is who he says he is.

Scammers steal names, make fake ID's, and steal photos of actual military and impersonate them.

Please see this article, and all of the footnotes at the bottom of the article to learn more about these scams:
https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewt ... =13&t=6527

[Cancerian]

Thankyou Hillbilly, the info was appreciated and helpful. I was also wandering about the account scenario, with his username and password, would that page be a fake as well? Thankyou.

[Mike Wilson]

Please post the email that refers to his account and then we will be able to give you an answer.

[tittubum]

Hi my name is Raewyn.
I am just enquiring on the person who you are referring to as CSM Richard B Watchman ( [email protected] because just recently I have been messaging a man and his name as given me is Richard Watchman and is a CSM officer and he has also been serving in the us army for 25 years and is currently on active duty in Africa and also told me that he was married for 20 years but his wife passed away 8 years ago. it seems to be a coincidence that your story seems to be so close to my story but I am wondering if this is the same person. how can I find out if he is who he says he is. And if he is actually in the us army. He also told me that he has lived in new Zealand since he was 5 years old and owns his own home. I live in new Zealand as well but I don't know how to find out if he is telling me the truth.

[Bryon Williams]

It is 100% a scam. Your scammer is not from the US he is West African. He said that he is stationed there because this is where he will want you to send your money. He is a thief. Everything he has told you is a lie.

Military members do not pay for leave. They earn free leave each year. Also only the member can request leave through his chain of command. His wife, mother, children nor internet girlfriend can do this. Also they would never have contact with his chain of command.

Military members have access to their money. They also do not pay for phones, internet or medical.

Military provides all meals.

Please stop all contact with the scammer. If you confront him he will continue to lie.

Additional information on Fake Military Romance Scammers >> https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewt ... =13&t=6527

This is a warning from the Army about this scam.
http://www.army.mil/article/130861/Army ... nce_scams/

QUANTICO, Va. (July 30, 2014) -- Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly known as CID, are once again warning internet users worldwide about cyber criminals involved in an online crime that CID has dubbed "the Romance Scam."

CID special agents continue to receive numerous reports from victims located around the world regarding various scams of persons impersonating U.S. Soldiers online. Victims are usually unsuspecting women, 30 to 55 years old, who believe they are romantically involved with an American Soldier, yet are being exploited and ultimately robbed, by perpetrators who strike from thousands of miles away.

"We cannot stress enough that people need to stop sending money to persons they meet on the internet and claim to be in the U.S. military," said Chris Grey, Army CID's spokesman.

"It is very troubling to hear these stories over and over again of people who have sent thousands of dollars to someone they have never met and sometimes have never even spoken to on the phone," Grey said.

The majority of the "romance scams," are being perpetrated on social media and dating-type websites where unsuspecting females are the main target.

The criminals are pretending to be U.S. servicemen, routinely serving in a combat zone. The perpetrators will often take the true rank and name of a U.S. Soldier who is honorably serving his country somewhere in the world, or has previously served and been honorably discharged, then marry that up with some photographs of a Soldier off the internet, and then build a false identity to begin prowling the internet for victims.

The scams often involve carefully worded romantic requests for money from the victim to purchase special laptop computers, international telephones, military leave papers, and transportation fees to be used by the fictitious "deployed Soldier" so their false relationship can continue. The scams include asking the victim to send money, often thousands of dollars at a time, to a third party address.

Once victims are hooked, the criminals continue their ruse.

"We've even seen instances where the perpetrators are asking the victims for money to purchase "leave papers" from the Army, help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds or help pay for their flight home so they can leave the war zone," said Grey.

These scams are outright theft and are a grave misrepresentation of the U.S. Army and the tremendous amount of support programs and mechanisms that exist for Soldiers today, especially those serving overseas, said Grey.

Along with the romance-type scams, CID has been receiving complaints from citizens worldwide that they have been the victims of other types of scams -- once again where a cyber crook is impersonating a U.S. service member. One version usually involves the sale of a vehicle; where the service member claims to be living overseas and has to quickly sell their vehicle because they are being sent to another duty station. After sending bogus information regarding the vehicle, the seller requests the buyer do a wire transfer to a third party to complete the purchase. When in reality, the entire exchange is a ruse for the crook to get the wire transfer and leave the buyer high and dry, with no vehicle.

Army CID continues to warn people to be very suspicious if they begin a relationship on the internet with someone claiming to be an American Soldier and within a matter of weeks, the alleged Soldier is asking for money, as well as discussing marriage.

The majority of these scams have a distinct pattern to them, explained Grey.

The perpetrators often tell the victims that their units do not have telephones or they are not allowed to make calls or they need money to "help keep the Army internet running." They often say they are widowers and raising a young child on their own to pull on the heartstrings of their victims.

"We've even seen where the criminals said that the Army won't allow the Soldier to access their personal bank accounts or credit cards," said Grey.

All lies, according to CID officials.

"These perpetrators, often from other countries, most notably from West African countries, are good at what they do and quite familiar with American culture, but the claims about the Army and its regulations are ridiculous," said Grey.

The Army reports that numerous very senior officers and enlisted Soldiers throughout the Army have had their identities stolen to be used in these scams.

To date, there have been no reports to Army CID indicating any U.S. service members have suffered any financial loss as a result of these attacks. Photographs and actual names of U.S. service members have been the only thing utilized. On the contrary, the victims have lost thousands.

One victim revealed that she had sent more than $60,000 to the scammer. Another victim from Great Britain told CID officials that over the course of a year, she had sent more than $75,000 to the con artists.

"The criminals are preying on the emotions and patriotism of their victims," added Grey.

The U.S. has established numerous task force organizations to deal with this and other growing issues; unfortunately, the people committing these scams are using untraceable email addresses on Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., routing accounts through numerous locations around the world, and utilizing pay-per-hour Internet cyber cafes, which often times maintain no accountability of use. The ability of law enforcement to identify these perpetrators is very limited, so individuals must stay on the alert and be personally responsible to protect themselves.

"Another critical issue is we don't want victims who do not report this crime walking away and thinking that a U.S. serviceman has ripped them off when in fact that serviceman is honorably serving his country and often not even aware that his pictures or identity have been stolen," said Grey.

What to look for:

DON'T EVER SEND MONEY! Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees.

Carefully check out the stories you are being told. If it sounds suspicious, there is a reason, it's routinely false -- trust your instincts.

If you do start an internet-based relationship with someone, check them out, research what they are telling you with someone who would know, such as a current or former service member.

Be very suspicious if you never get to actually speak with the person on the phone or are told you cannot write or receive letters in the mail. Servicemen and women serving overseas will often have an APO or FPO mailing address. Internet or not, service members always appreciate a letter in the mail.

Military members have an email address that end in ".mil." If the person you are speaking with cannot sent you at least one email from a ".mil" (that will be the very LAST part of the address and nothing after), then there is a high probability they are not in the military.

Many of the negative claims made about the military and the supposed lack of support and services provided to troops overseas are far from reality -- check the facts.

Be very suspicious if you are asked to send money or ship property to a third party or company. Often times the company exists, but has no idea or is not a part of the scam.

Be aware of common spelling, grammatical or language errors in the emails.

Be cognizant of foreign and regional accents that do not match the person's story.

WHERE TO GO FOR HELP

Report the theft to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (FBI-NW3C Partnership) at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.

Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft.

Your report helps law enforcement officials across the United States in their investigations.

Report the theft by phone at 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) or TTY, 1-866-653-4261.

Report the theft by mail at the following address:

Identity Theft Clearinghouse
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, DC 20580

Report the fraud by email to the Federal Trade Commission on Nigerian Scams via at [email protected].

For more information on CID, visit http://www.cid.army.mil.